UChicago/Hyde Park = Dangerous?

UChicagoPSAC
Sun, 12 Apr 2009 00:20:31 +0000

While it is definitely wise to take precautions when living in the dorms more south of the Midway, I don’t want to scare anyone in to thinking that you absolutely can’t come home or walk by yourself if you make a late night of a party or a library visit. I mean, yes, you will be a target for crime if you are walking around inebriated at 2am counting the money in your wallet and singing loudly along with the music coming from your visible iPhone, but really, that kind of action is equally unsafe in rural Kansas as it is on Chicago’s south side. With a bit of common sense, recognition that you’re living in an urban environment that is, yes, close to areas that are relatively low-income and do have crime, but a willingness to take advantage of safety resources made very explicitly available to students, you’re going to be just fine.
One thing students deciding to live more off campus should know is that the University offers free shuttle buses, leaving from the Reg and traveling predetermined paths around Hyde Park, which stop at different locations every 20 minutes with very good regularity. These are very safe and reliable means of transportation, and are a good way to get home at night, especially if you will be living in Burton-Judson or South Campus- one such shuttle, the South Route, stops specifically in these areas, as well as the graduate housing in the surroundings and near Breckenridge and Blackstone a bit to the North. Safe Ride, another ride service, is also a good means of transport (although can take a bit longer to come, especially on high-traffic nights, like Fridays and Saturdays, and so is more often used if you don’t know where the nearest shuttle stop is or you’re out way too late for the shuttles to run) and will pick you up from wherever you are and take you wherever you’re going in the Hyde Park area. Finally, the UCPD offers an umbrella service by which a UCPD officer will accompany you home either on foot, by bike, or in a car (usually in a car) if you feel like you are being followed or are just generally uncomfortable walking alone at any time. Really, as long as you take advantage of the transportation options available, you’ll always have a safe and reliable means of transport in and around Hyde Park, regardless of where your dorm is located.